The Twisted Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 3)

Chapter 17.2

In her apartment, she had another challenge to deal with: Imari and Miosch awaited her. Imari looked even more haughty and distant than usual, and Sabrina thought she must have dragged Miosch here against his will, so dark and closed was his expression.

"Lady Imari, Miosch, I'm so glad to see you safe," she said. "Please sit down. Will you have something to drink or eat?"

Imari's tone was brittle, almost querulous. "No. If you wish for something you will have to fetch it with your own hands; your household seems in complete disarray."

"Not surprising, since some of them are dead and the rest are wounded or exhausted," Sabrina snapped in reply. "If you would like something, please ask; I am not too proud to wait on you."

"My lady," Miosch intervened, "we will not take up much of your time. We merely wished to pay you a formal visit of condolence, on the death of our mutual kinsman, your father. I was...much distressed to hear of it."

"Thank you," Sabrina murmured, bowing her head as she sat down.

"Is that all you have to say?" Imari demanded. "The last of my family dead, and you, whom he took in and lavished care on, sit there insensible?"

Sabrina trembled with burning rage and grief, but she held herself silent, her lips pressed so tightly together that they were white, until she thought she could speak calmly. "You are not," she said, "the last of his family, and it is strictly out of consideration for his niece that I choose not to lose my temper and give you the shouting match you evidently desire. No, do not speak! You should not have come until you had yourself under better control, and it is only out of respect for your grief, which I share more than you can apparently imagine, that I will forgive your insulting remarks. I have wept for him, and I will continue to do so, but there are people other than myself to consider. A planetful, in fact."

Imari got to her feet, eyes blazing. "Yes, you think you'll keep that pedestal he set you on, don't you? Not if I have anything to say about it! You, a primitive stranger to our world, not of the Crystal or of anything, to queen it over the rest of us! Hah! I hoped you might be reasonable, might think of your duty to the family you forced your way into and ask me to supply the advice and guidance that my nephew gave you, but I see it was too much to expect! You are nothing but a common girl who taught my niece to put her own desires above her duties and stole her power and authority from her!"

"Lady Imari!" Miosch exclaimed. "Please—you must not—"

"Do not tell me what I must and must not do!" Imari shouted. "I am Imari ya Nelar nar Ruschar zu yel Madrak, First Chair of the Council of Trême and only surviving relative of the Queen, and it is for me to say what I will do! Now that my nephew is dead, his folly must be stopped and the throne returned to those entitled to it by blood and training!"

"You want the regency?" Sabrina retorted. "Then fight me for it!"

"You dare challenge me?"

"Yes!"

"Impertinent little power-grubber!" Imari sneered. "You have no idea of what you have started!"

"Do you?" Sabrina demanded. She was on her feet now, her fists clenched. "And what are you going to tell the Wayfarers, Imari, when they call upon us to fulfill our part of the agreement and discover that you have pushed me aside? Are you going to go and stand peacefully beside them to ensure Tirqwin and Mara's survival? Do you have any idea of what the future demands, any vision of it that doesn't lead back to this planet's blood-soaked past?"

"I do not have to explain myself to you," Imari replied.

"On the contrary," Selémahs said from the doorway, "as Her Majesty's representative, you most certainly do. Lady Imari, I never thought to hear you shame our name by invoking it in treason."